Earth-boring machine



C. S. CORRIGAN.

EARTH BORING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 15,1920.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921 3 'nventoz UNITED STATES CLYDE S. CORRIGAN,

OF NORWOOD, OHIO.

EARTH-BORING MACHINE.

Application filed July 15,

T ([77 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLYDE S. CORRIGAN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Norwood. in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Earth-BoringMachines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the drawings forming part of thisspecification.

It has long been realized that if we could bore deep enough into theearth's crust we would tap inexhaustable sources of heat and steampower. It is also acknowledged that the only hope of boring to thedepths required is by the use of the motor advancing type of deep wellmachine in which the entire machine is lowered into the well by cableand all strains of oscillation and jerks on the cable eliminated.

Therefore, my invention is of the motor advancing type of deep wellmachine but is a departure from present methods of making wells in thatit saws its way down into the ground instead of drilling or turning. Assaws cut much faster than drills and my machine only saws out a smallpart of the area of the hole, then lifts both muck and core leaving a.clean hole it will sink holes many times faster than any other type ofmachine. As cable is made capable of lifting sixty thousand feet ofitself, it should be possible to make wells ten miles or more in depth.

My deep well machine consists of chain saws fastened to the outsidefaces of a rectangular or polygon shaped casing, so as to cut a kerfwide enough to allow the casing to sink into the earth with the sawswhich are connected by gears and shafts to motors in the upper part ofsaid casing, the entire machine being lowered into the hole by means ofa sustaining cable through which power is supplied for operation andcontrol.

As the machine sinks into the earth it makes a core which is inclosed inthe aforementioned casing and after sinking as deep as the length of thesaws (say or feet) the core is broken loose and lifted out of the holewith the machine.

The value of geological research depends on the perfection of samplesobtained from underground formations. The sawed cores made by thismachine have flat sides and give exact and precise information in regardto Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921. 1920. Serial No. 396.392.

the angle and direction of dipalso the laminatlons and thickness ofstrata and as no water circulates around the core the salts andchemicalsare also left intact for examinatlon.

The core made by a rotary drill is usually disturbed and broken up. Thesawed core would not be disturbed and successive sectlons could beordinated so as to give perfect longitudinal and latitudinal sectionalviews of the earths crust, more exact geological information beingobtained from one core than now obtained from three or more cores of thekind available.

My machine is long and straight and insures a straight hole in tiltedand faulted strata as well as when tunneling at an angle or on ahorizontal line, as for example, to carry water supply through amountain or to siphon it beneath a river or other such purpose.

or making a. polygon shaped hole round and for placing concrete casingthrough water bearing strata and to do away with the necessity of usingsteel casing in wells and also to keep the well the same size all theway down, I have invented a sawing reamer on which separate patent isbeing sought.

The construction of the chain saw well cutting machine is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which similar numerals refer to similarparts throughout.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the machine.

Fig. 8 is a cross section at 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross section at 4.-& of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a cross section at 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a cross section at 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a cross section at 77 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a cross section at 88 of Fig. 3.

The chain saw well cutting machine primarily consists of a prism shapedcore barrel or casing l, on the several faces of which are fastened thechain saws 2 of any suitable design, operated by a suitable number ofmotors 3, of any suitable make, through the hollow shaft 4, the doublebevel gears 5, the upper gears 6, and the lower gears 7 so that theadjoining edges of the adjacent saws move in the same direction allowingthe teeth of one saw to move between the teeth of the adjacent saw. Thechain saws are preferably of the type described in my apthe machine atsuch a position on the rod 8 that the bumper 12, extends lower than thechain saws 2 until the machine reaches the bottom of the hole and thenby means of an electric current through the control wires 10, the lipsof the clutch machine are drawn in and released from the rod 8. 7' Powerbeing applied through wires 11, the machine sinks by its own weight asthe saws 2 extend the cuts until the bumper 12 which has remainedstationary touches the contact plate 14, on the bottom of the clutch .13and completesan electric circuit through the control wires 10 and ringsan electric bell at the surface to notify the operator that the out hasbeen completed the length of the core.

The operator then directs a charge from a galvanic or firing batterythrough control wires 10, to discharge the core breaking cartridges 15.When the machine is lifted the hinged core lifters 16, drop by their ownweight and engage the bottom of the core, which will be lifted out ofthe well with the machine, by the sustaining cable'9, the core will beremoved, the core breaking cartridges renewed, the machine locked inposition on the rod 8 by the clutch 13 and lowered to the bottom oftheYwell, and the operation repeated.

To prevent cuttings made by saws 2 from packing around the saws Iprovide rotary pumps 17 operated by bevel gears 18, whenever the saws 2operate. These pumps lift the cuttings through the pipes 19, the upperparts of which are stationary, and the lower parts telescoped thereonand slidingly fastened in the inside corners of the casing 1, anddeposit said cuttings in the water tank 20. The water overflowin throughthe openings 21 washes down to t e bottom any cuttings that have beenpartly lifted by the saws.

On the bottom of the pipes 19 are chisel shaped drills 22 to cut outspaces for. the pipes 19, the necessary motion for drilling beingimparted to the pipes 19, throu h the cams 23, and the gears 24 from theouble gears 5, above the cams 23. The upper stationary portion of thepipe 19 is enlarged so that the lower sliding portion will fit neatlyand not require apacked joint.

The casing 1, is made slightly smaller above the bearing of the gears 6and 7, to

permit the teeth of the chain saws 2, to pass started.

from one side to the other; then enlarged to slightly less than the sizeof the hole cut by the saws 2, and extended upwardly to inclose theWater tank 20, pumps 17, motors 3, the refrigerator tank 25, thethermostat 26 and the power wire reel 27. The refrigerator compartmentis only afiixed to such machines as are to be used in wells of greatdepth, where the intense heat will make it necessary to use arefrigerating agent to keep the motors cool enough to operate. Therefrigeration element may be liquid air or any suitable agent and shouldbe controlled by the thermostat 26 so that the proper amount is used tokeep the motors at any desired temperature.

Silt or muck collected in the water tank 20, by pumps 17, is washed outthrough the door 29, after raising to the surface, and the tank 20refilled with clean water.

The roller bearings 28, are placed at convenlent intervals along theoutside of the casing 1, to hold the machine from rotating I withrespect to the walls of the hole, and

also to keep all portions of the machine the same distance inside thehole already cut and insure the making of a straight and true holethrough any kind of material and on the same angle or dip at which thehole was A pushing element will be required when using the machine. tomake tunnels or siphons on a horizontal line or too near the horizontalfor the weight of the machine to advance itself by gravity.

While I have shown and described the preferred constructionand-arrangement of the machine .it is understood that it may be made inlarge sizes for sinking shafts for mines and in' small sizes for diggingpost holes and the like and is susceptible of many modifications withoutdeparting from the essential features or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention. I

I am not aware of chain saws ever having been used for making wells orholes in the earth, or taking cores therefrom and, therefore, claim sucha combination broadly.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a motor advancing type of deep wellmachine, earth and stone cuttingsaws, motors operatively connectedthereto and means of raising and lowering and supplying power to saidmachines. v

2. In a machine for making wells or holes in the earth the combinationof a polygon in the earth comprising essentially a plurality of chainsaws operating in uni-directional planes at angles to each other and setso that the kerfs cut by said saws join each other to form a holecontaining an earth core and means within said machine for lifting saidcore out of the well.

4. In a machine adapted to be lowered into wells and holes in the earthfor increasing the depth of said wells and extracting the coretherefrom, the combination of a sustaining and power conveying cable, aprism shaped casing, a plurality of earth cutting saws attached to thelower portion of said casing, motors within the upper part of saidcasing for operating said saws, and advancing said saws and easing intothe earth, means of breaking loose the earth core inclosed in saidcasing and means for lifting said core out of the well with the machine.

5. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination of a polygonshaped core barrel, a plurality of earth cutting chain saws attached tothe external faces thereof, the teeth of said saws being set so as tocut a kerf wide enough to allow the core barrel to sink into the earthwith the saws and inclose but not disturb the core of eithersoft or hardmaterial, means of breaking said core loose at the bottom of cut andmeans of holding the core within the core barrel while being lifted .tothe surface.

6. In a machine for making wells and holes in the earth the combinationof a sustaining and power conveying cable, a central lifting rod,cutting elements slidable on the lifting rod, a bumper on bottom of saidrod, a clutch for holding the machine at such a position on said rodthat the bumper will reach the bottom of the well first and protect themachine from shock, electric means by which an operator at the surfacemay release the clutch, electric means of controlling the operation ofthe machine, a contact plate on the machine to make contact with the bumer and complete an electric circuit by wiiich the operator at thesurface will be notified that the out has been completed, said contactalso completing a circuit by which the current from a galvanic firingbattery may be conducted to detonators for discharging core breakingcartridges near the bottom of the machine, and means for holding andlifting the core out of the I well with the machine.

7. In a machine of the character described, the combination of asustaining cable to which power and control wires are attached, thelower end of said cable being provided with a lifting and bumping rod towhich the machine is slidingly attached, means of holding the machine ata fixed point on said rod and means by which an operator at the surfacecan release the machine from said position on said rod so it may slidedown the rod as it cuts its way into the earth, means by which saidoperator will be notified when the out has been completed, means bywhich he may break loose the core cut by the machine, and means oflifting said core out of the well with the machine.

8. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination of polygonshaped casing, earth cutting saws attached to the lower ex- .ternalfaces thereof, means for operating said saws, a tank above said saws andwithin said casing, suction pumps for lifting the cuttings made by saidSaws through pipes and depositing them in said tank. means of fillingsaid tank with liquid if desired, and openings in said tank to allowliquid to flow out and down to bottom of the cut as the tank is filledwith cuttings from said saws, and means of cleaning said cutttings outof the tank after reaching the surface.

9. In a machine for making straight holes and wells in the earth, a sawpropelling mechanism inclosed within a polygon shaped casing, the lowerportion of said casing being slightly smaller than the upper, chain sawsand their frames being attached to the several faces of said lowerportion, the frames of said saws being of such thickness, that theirexternal faces are in the same planes as the exterior faces of the upperportion of easing, the whole forming a rigid, long, straight, body, theteeth of the aforementioned chain saws being set so as to cut a holeslightly larger than said casing, so that it will slide freely in thehole already cut, roller bearings attached at intervals on the sawframes and casings and projecting as much beyond their exterior as thecut of the saws, to make rolling contact with the walls of the holealready cut, and hold all parts of the long straight body of the casingat equal distances within the walls of the hole already cut, whereby theends are prevented from strata or faults, and

cut portion of the hole part already out, no matter at what angle themachine may be set to advance and no matter at what angle the strata maydip.

10. In a machine for making deep wells and holes in the earth, thecombination of a casing, earth cutting elements attached to the lowerportion of said casing, motors inclosed in the upper portion of saidcasing and operatively connected to said cutting elements, a reservoirinclosed in said casing above said motors, designed to hold arefrigeration liquid such as liquid air, a thermostat means by whichportions of the refrigeration liquid may be drawn into that part of thecasing containing the motor so as to keep said motors cool, when workingat great depths in the earth, where the interior heat of the earth wouldbe more than the highest temperature at which the motors could operatewithout refrigeration.

11. In a machine of the character described, the combination of aplurality of vchain saws, bevel gears operating the same,

a hollow shaft on which said gears are mounted, slidable mounting meanson the said shaft for the machine, a plurality of motors the rotor partsof which are attached to said hollow shaft, a polygon shaped casing andthe Stator parts inclosed in and fastened to said casing and rollerbearings on the separate faces of said casing to rollingly engage thesides of the hole already cut and keep the machine from rotating withrespect to its walls.

12. In a machine of the character described, the combination of chainsaws, means for operating said saws, suction pumps and pipes for liftingthe cuttings to a tank above sald saws, said suction pipes telescopejoints so that the upper parts may remain stationary while the lowerparts may have an up and down motion, drills attached to the bottoms ofsaid lower parts of said suction pipes to cut spaces for the pipes tooperate in, means attached to the saw operating mechanism for impartingsaid up and down motion to said lower parts of said suction pipes anddrills, said motion not only cutting out spaces for the pi es, but alsoin a small degree, li ting and dropping the machine having whilesawalternately not clog up with cutand dig ilito the" earth whereby ahand saw action is imparted to said saws.

13. In a mechanism for the purpose described, the combination of asustaining and power conveying cable, a central lifting rod, a cuttinmechanism slidably attached to the ro contact plates on said mechanism,means on the bottom of said rod to complete an electric circuitwhen thecutting mechanism reaches the bottom of said rod, means by which thecharge from a galvanic firing battery may be conducted to detonators fordischarging core breaking cartridges near the bottom of said cuttingmechanism and means for holding and lifting the core out of the wellalong with the machine.

14. In a mechanism for the purpose described, the combination lof asustaining and power conveyin cable, a lifting rod, a cutting machineslldably attached to the rod, means for holding said machine at a fixedpoint on rod while lowering the same into the well, means for releasingsaid machine so it may slide down the rod while cutting, a reel withpower and control wires to be unwound as the machine slides down saidrod, and means of notifying the operator at the surface when the machinehas reached the bottom of said rod.

CLYDE S. CORRIGAN.

